MNPD Names Employees of the Year for 2017

Chief Steve Anderson this morning congratulated 12 outstanding individuals whose conscientious work led to them being selected as the Nashville Police Department’s Employees of the Year for 2017.

“The police department’s awards committees have difficult decisions to make every year due to all of the tremendous work that goes on in this police department day after day by hundreds of persons,” Chief Anderson said. “I am very proud of these 12 men and women and all of their continuing efforts on behalf of Nashville’s families.”

Relentless investigative work by these three detectives led to murder and aggravated burglary charges against Christopher McLawhorn for the February 28th stabbing death of Nashville nurse Tiffany Ferguson inside her Wedgewood Park apartment.

This was a case that shocked citizens in the Wedgewood-Melrose area, and was a rare true stranger crime. Detectives Chandler, Shoesmith and Bevis worked tirelessly pursuing multiple leads until amassing the evidence necessary to charge McLawhorn on March 8th. News of the arrest brought relief to the thousands of citizens who live in the immediate area, and Nashville as a whole.

While on walking patrol on Broadway in the early morning hours of Sunday, March 5th, Officer Osuna spotted a man he believed to be the person of interest developed in the Tiffany Ferguson murder case. Officer Osuna confirmed the man’s name to be Christopher McLawhorn, who appeared to be homeless, and was carrying two bottles of alcohol and a small quantity of marijuana. He was booked on the misdemeanor drug charge while Midtown Hills detectives continued to build their murder investigation. Thanks to Officer Osuna’s diligence, McLawhorn has been in custody since March 5th.

Outstanding teamwork lead to the arrest of the gunman suspected of fatally shooting a 19-year-old woman in the James Cayce public housing development.

A short time after the shooting, Central Precinct Motorcycle Officers West and Douglas were finishing up a crash investigation on Woodland Street when they spotted the suspect vehicle, a gold sedan with a temporary tag, drive by. They, with the assistance of Officers Baron and Manivong in their marked patrol units, stopped the car on I-24 East near Shelby Avenue. Three men were taken into custody.

Three handguns, heroin, cocaine, pills, and $1,900 cash were recovered from the vehicle.

After more than a year of investigation by Detectives Akin and Weaver into the disappearance of Nashvillian Nichole Burgess, her former boyfriend, Caleb Cannon, was indicted and arrested for her murder in October 2015. This was a unique arrest, in that the body of Nichole Burgess has not been located to this day. Cannon stood trial in May 2017. Through the work of Detectives Akin and Weaver, it was established that Cannon murdered Burgess at her Hermitage home and transported her body to an unknown location. After a brief period of deliberation, a Criminal Court jury convicted Cannon of 1st degree murder.

Support Services Bureau Special Operations Officer of the Year: Officer Brian Gregory, Special Response Team

Officer Gregory’s work with Training Academy staff was instrumental in the development of a curriculum for Officer Response to Active Shooters/Killers. Officer Gregory not only helped create a two-day in-service course for officers, he dedicated a tremendous amount of time in making sure it was taught correctly. He was the lead instructor for most of the classes, while still assisting in the Special Response Team’s role of tracking down violent offenders in the Nashville community.

Professional Support Employee of the Year: Ms. Lisa Davidson, Records Division

Ms. Davidson serves as the police department’s citizen records coordinator and processes requests for police reports, computer reports, closed case files, etc. Her vast knowledge and skill concerning the complex responsibilities of the job help ensure that the requests receive the appropriate responses in a timely manner. In addition, Ms. Davidson’s positive and outgoing personality is contagious to her co-workers and others who call upon her for help.